Faculty: Richard N. Kitsis, MD

Division of Cardiology

Piña is First Hispanic and Female honored by American Heart Association for Volunteerism

Ileana Piña, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Ileana Piña, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Population Health, and Vice Chief for Academic Affairs, was the first Hispanic and female to win the Chairman’s Award for volunteerism from the American Heart Association (AHA) for her dedication to educating the community about heart health across diverse populations. This award honors medical/science volunteers who have made contributions to further the organization’s strategic goals in non-science areas at both the national and local levels.

Dr. Piña accepted her award at the opening ceremonies of the AHA annual meeting on November 16, 2013 in Dallas, Texas.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Dr. Piña moved to Miami in 1959, at the age of six. In a recent NBCLatino interview, she described how she grew up in poverty conditions, losing both of her parents before she was twenty, and how she put herself through college by working three jobs. A growing frustration with the lack of health education available to immigrants led her to pursue a masters in public health in addition to her medical degree. Her current efforts focus on getting Hispanic women to pay attention to their health, understanding their cholesterol, exercising, losing weight, taking care of themselves, and passing this on to their female family members.